My high school library in Austin quietly removed "The Bluest Eye" from shelves in 2019 and I only found out when I tried to check it out for a report

I walked in during 4th period, gave the librarian the call number, and she just said "we don't carry that title" with a weird look, so I spent the next 2 weeks digging through old district records until I found the cancellation order with no public notice attached, has anyone else stumbled onto a silent removal like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbara2781d ago

Took me a while to dig through my school's records too, but honestly I found it was more of a paperwork screw-up than a conspiracy. My librarian straight up told me they just didn't have the budget to replace worn-out copies and the cancellation order got lost in the shuffle with new curriculum updates. Might be the same situation there, especially if the book hadn't been checked out in years.

tara7001d ago

Oh come on, that's way too trusting! You really think a "paperwork screw up" explains a whole book disappearing from the system? I've seen this kind of thing happen in my own district and it's never just an accident. More often than not, someone with an agenda quietly pulls a title, and the librarian either goes along with it or doesn't push back because they're afraid of losing their job. The "lost in the shuffle" excuse is just a convenient cover story. And if the book wasn't checked out in years, that's even more suspicious - why bother canceling a book nobody wants unless someone specifically targeted it? I'd bet money that someone complained, and the library just quietly removed it without telling anyone.

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